Government
AMA wants laws to require insurers to pay fairly for emergency care
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 28, 2005
The AMA House of Delegates asked the AMA to lobby for language in the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act or balance billing-related legislation "which would require all insurers to assign payments directly to any health care professional who has provided EMTALA-mandated emergency care, regardless of in-network and out-of-network status."
Despite being required by EMTALA to provide emergency care, physicians and emergency departments are inadequately compensated by insurers because federal and state laws don't expressly require fair payment, stated a Board of Trustees report issued at the AMA Interim Meeting in Dallas earlier this month.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/11/28/gvbf1128.htm.